Hodie est pr. XIV Kal. Ian. 2772 AUC ~ 4 Poseideon in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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• Culturally significant sculpture Death of Cleopatra saved from export – GOV.UK
• Thessaloniki’s Byzantine identity is under threat | Comment | ekathimerini.com
• Mausoleum built 2,000 years ago for Rome’s first emperor will reopen to the public in March | Daily Mail Online

In Case You Missed It

• Lost workshop making pagan figurines in Roman Palestine rediscovered in central Israel – Archaeology – Haaretz.com
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Classicists and Classics in the News

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• The Passing of Professor Mortimer Chambers – Department of Classics – UCLA

Public Facing Classics

• Why I chose to study classics – Prospect Magazine

Fresh Bloggery

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• Laudator Temporis Acti: Philosophy Test
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Town-Country Relations in the Northern Parts of Germania inferior from an Economic Perspective
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• Roman Times: Scythian gorytos
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• Utilitatis Aliquid: A Literary Syllabus for Eloquence and Erudition – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Blogs of the Year 2020 | Sphinx
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Datenbank ‚Althebräische Personennamen‘ (DAHPN)
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Biblia Hebraica transcripta
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Epigraphische Datenbank zum antiken Kleinasien – Epigraphic database for ancient Asia Minor
• How Was Saturnalia Celebrated in Ancient Rome? – Tales of Times Forgotten
• The History Blog » Blog Archive » Roman lady is London’s highest-status burial
• Blog: Contingent Faculty Series: An Interview with Joshua Nudell | Society for Classical Studies
• Philip of Pergamon: the common source of Plutarch and Tacitus? | Georgy Kantor’s blog
• Paris’ Prologue 21: How Paris Got His Second Name Alexander: spannycattroy — LiveJournal

Blog-like Publications

• How Did Ancient Greeks and Romans Celebrate Special Occasions? | Getty Iris
• The Latin of North America. Andrew Dinan Discusses His “Americana… | by Andrew Dinan | In Medias Res | Dec, 2020 | Medium

Fresh Podcasts

• ‎Myth Dynamite: Season Two, Episode One: You Don’t Own Me on Apple Podcasts

This week, we bring you the great HELEN! We’ve wanted to bring her to the table for a long, long time now, and she will always hold a special place in our hearts as the character we slaved over countless times when we were testing the concept of Myth Dynamite. Helen was a great beauty, or so they say. She even launched c. 1000 ships with her face! Quite the party trick. We think there might be a little more to her than meets the eye (or “male gaze” – sorry lads, that’s the term for it. Take it up with John Berger if you have an alternative)! Tune in for a tale as old as time, some wrestling, some pseudoarchaeology, and most importantly some nudity.

Fresh Youtubery

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• Robert Parker, “New Discoveries and New Problems in Greek Religion” | British School at Athens
• Erebus: The Primordial God of Darkness | Athena Productions
• Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? Book now available! | Digital Hammurabi
• 004. Iliad Book 2. 48-75 – YT | Walter M. Roberts III, PhD.
• A New History of Writing on the Iranian Plateau | Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] Christian Vassallo, Presocratics and papyrological tradition: a philosophical reappraisal of the sources. Studia praesocratica, 10. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2019.
• [BMCR] Suzanne Amigues, Théophraste. Les signes du temps. Les vents. Collection des universités de France. Série grecque, 547. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2019.

Online Talks and Professional Matters

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Alia

• Merry Saturnalia, and other myths about Christmas that don’t seem to go away
• The ancient ore mines of Lavrio hold fresh promise | Life | ekathimerini.com

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

• Homeromanteion | Online Homeric Oracle
• Sortes Virgilianae (English)
• Sortes Virgilianae (Latin)
• Consult the Oracle at UCL

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a prolongation of hostilities/war.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)